In this April 12, 2014 file photo, Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers looks on against the Sacramento Kings during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Los Angeles. Richard Parsons, interim CEO of the Los Angeles Clippers, testified on Tuesday, July 22, 2014, to support Shelly Sterling's bid to sell the NBA basketball team for $2 billion to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Parsons said Clippers coach Doc Rivers would leave if Donald Sterling continued as the team's owner. (AP Photo/Danny Moloshok)

Taking the stand for the first time in a probate trial that could determine ownership of the Los Angeles basketball franchise, Parsons said he has had three conversations with Rivers since being appointed as interim CEO in May.

Each time, Rivers gave the same answer, telling Parsons “he doesn’t think that he wants to continue as coach” if Sterling retains control of the team he has owned since 1981. Sterling was banned from the NBA for life after the publication of racist comments he made to a female friend, but he has vowed not to sell the team.

Calling Rivers a “father figure” for the team, Parsons said the departure of the veteran coach could accelerate the Clippers’ “death spiral” — resulting in a potential loss of key players, team sponsors, as well as season ticket holders. Rivers had agreed to a three-year deal with the team in June 2013.

He added that numerous sponsors have told him they will stick with the Clippers only if Sterling is no longer the owner.

“If Doc would leave, that would be a disaster,” Parsons said.

The interim CEO also expressed concern that players could leave the team if Sterling remains the owner, and said he has had conversations with team captain Chris Paul, who also serves as the president of the National Basketball Players Association. Parsons did not disclose specifics of the conversations.

Parsons also said that, if the sale drags on, it would be difficult to match the $2 billion price it fetched from former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. He called the winning bid a “knockout price,” comparing the purchase of the team to that of other trophy assets like a Fabergé egg.

The $2 billion price can’t be justified on “any financial metric basis,” Parsons said, but its value was pushed up because Ballmer wanted to make a pre-emptive bid to shut out other prospective buyers.

“If Steve goes away, I don’t know how you get to this number again,” Parsons said.

Bank of America’s Anwar Zakkour, who advised on the sale, said in his own testimony, “I think we were doing back flips when we got the $2 billion bid from Mr. Ballmer.”

Zakkour said Bank of America’s preliminary valuation of the franchise was $1 billion to $1.3 billion. A second evaluation based on very “aggressive” assumptions related to local and national television deals bumped the estimate up to $1.5 billion to $1.8 billion.

Zakkour called the eventual $2 billion bid “nirvana.”

Additionally, an earlier meeting between Donald Sterling and Ballmer on Monday night produced no signs that the longtime Clippers owner’s vow to fight the NBA for the rest of his life was softening.

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On Tuesday evening, Sterling filed a civil lawsuit against Shelly Sterling, the NBA, and others over Shelly’s actions related to LAC Basketball Club Inc., the Clippers’ corporation.

“I don’t think there’s been much change in his position,” said Bobby Samini, an attorney for Donald Sterling.

The lawsuit, filed in L.A. Superior Court, alleges that Shelly Sterling didn’t have the right to sell the team, said Matthew M. Hoesly, part of Donald Sterling’s legal team.

Sterling had filed a federal lawsuit against the NBA in June seeking $1 billion in antitrust damages. The league can seize the team on Sept. 15 and vote to terminate Sterling’s ownership if the team is not sold, something Sterling said he wanted to happen during his testimony two weeks ago..

The trial will resume Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. Donald Sterling’s attorneys plan to call Shelly Sterling back to the stand, as well as Dr. Jeffrey Cummings of the Cleveland Clinic.